Beltway Confidential

Smoke shops back e-cigarette regulations to protect themselves

By Timothy P. Carney
Published December 9, 2013 5:00am ET
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Smoke shops back e-cigarette regulations to protect themselves
Owners of smoke shops support the regulation of e-cigarettes because it protects them from lower-cost retail alternatives. (AP File) | Lefteris Pitarakis

Regulation is often a tool incumbent businesses use to keep out new entrants. Many journalists, however, understand regulation only as a tool the government uses to protect the public from business.

The conventional view of regulation causes confusion — or at best, unwarranted surprise. Witness the unnecessary “actually” in this report on regulations about selling e-cigarettes:

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